After a decent start, Pryor and the offense disintegrated behind a makeshift line in a 24-7 loss to the Chiefs. He threw three second-half interceptions, including one returned 44 yards for a touchdown by Husain Abdullah. He was sacked 10 times and hit 14 more, meaning he stayed clean on only 10 of 34 pass attempts.

The longer the game went on, the more Pryor looked like the guy a lot of pretty sharp NFL minds thought would never be an NFL quarterback. One play, Pryor abandoned a screen pass, ran to his right and took an 8-yard sack from Tamba Hali when he could have thrown the ball out of bounds.

So Pryor can expect to be dissected and analyzed over the next two weeks while the Raiders heal up with a fortuitously scheduled bye. He said the Raiders can still make the playoffs and he's ready for the scrutiny.

"You can sit here and say, 'This is the same thing the Raiders always go through. They're 2-4 ... well, that's not how it's going to be and I refuse to let that happen,'' Pryor said. "I'm going to get back on my feet, and I'm going to be ready to go. You make mistakes, get up and fight back.''

Pryor hit all the right notes with the media after a game in which he finished 18 of 34 for 216 yards and one touchdown, a 39-yard pass to Denarius Moore in the first half.

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In truth, Pryor took more than his share of responsibility. When backup center Andre Gurode and right tackle Tony Pashos left the game, the Raiders offensive line from left to right was made up of Khalif Barnes, Lucas Nix, Mike Brisiel, Lamar Mady and Matt McCants.

Brisiel is the third-string center.

"We've got to be there as a foundation for him, and right now as an O-line we're scrambling for bodies and we just didn't get it done,'' Brisiel said.

It was a recipe for disaster, it came to fruition, and Pryor tried to shield his teammates as best he could.

"I made some bad reads. I didn't change the protection. It's on me,'' Pryor said. "The offensive line did a phenomenal job.''

A promising season opener against Indianapolis, wins over Jacksonville and San Diego and the face-plant against Washington in his absence helped cement Pryor's value.

How Pryor responds to what happened against the Chiefs will determine if he is indeed the face of the franchise and quarterback of the future. With that in mind, coach Dennis Allen left him in until the bitter end.

"Let's not forget he's a young kid who's learning to play the position,'' Allen said. "He needs all the experience he can get.''

Free safety Charles Woodson, who played in his first NFL game at Arrowhead Stadium in 1998 and got torched by Andre Rison, attempted to put Pryor's game in perspective.

"Terrelle is still learning. This is a game I believe Terrelle will get better from,'' Woodson said. "I know this guy works hard. I watch him every day ... every quarterback has games like this.

"We're not going to make excuses for Terrelle, but we expect him to get better. We know he will.''

Pryor resisted the notion that he had taken "a beating'' and said he was fine."

"I'm a big man, I'm a grown man,'' Pryor said. "They just tackled me. They got me. They made great plays. (It wasn't) a beating, though.''

Teammates are paying attention. Sometimes a quarterback builds as much credibility through a bad game as a good game.